Bright Hope

NO WRITER ATTRIBUTED
September 30, 1952

Exam period is far away, but for those who remember three hours of squint and strain in Fogg during exam periods past, the delay cannot be too long. The lighting, designed especially for courses using slides, features a brilliantly illuminated stage, and overhead spotlight fixtures, equipped with what seem to be sixty-watt bulbs. The paltry number of foot-candles falling from above usually get lost in the dirty greenish decor.

The simplest and most effective answer is to rid exam schedules of Fogg altogether. Seldom used as it is, the Museum serves only when exams for a large enough number of big courses overflow the University's other auditoriums. Now, however, Harvard's latest monument to concrete and glass offers two new halls, one holding two hundred examgoers, the other one hundred and fifty.

Burr Hall's copious floodlights and well-aimed spots are ideal for the cram-weary undergraduate. Some may object, however, to the seats, which are set at such an angle that no one has much trouble peeking over his neighbor's shoulder. This should scare no one. If the Registrar assigns to Burr only courses which deal in imprecise, general topics, unlike Calculus or Physics, no examgoer will have time enough to crib anything worth the risk involved.

Examination schedules are complicated, requiring much human and electronic energy to plot. Yet the Registrar's office has personnel and IBM machines in abundance, as well as four months to banish Fogg. We can only hope that all these assets will be put to good use.